Learning is at the heart of museums, galleries and historic sites. Learning in these places is different from that in schools or more formal areas of education. Barry Lord has pointed out that learning in museums is informal, voluntary and affective. Affective learning focuses on our feelings about things but also uses cognitive data. Lord calls successful museum learning a ‘transformative learning experience’:

 

Museum learning is a transformative experience in which we develop new attitudes, interests, appreciation, beliefs or values in an informal, voluntary context focused on museum objects. Barry Lord, The Manual of Museum Learning (2007).

 

Educators use different learning styles in schools, colleges, university, the workplace and museums and galleries. These ways of learning and their terminology are investigated in Different Learning Styles.

 

The Inspiring Learning For All (ILFA) framework is a planning, strategic and evaluation learning tool that can assist all activities of museums and galleries to be effective in learning (not just the learning or education department!).